DIY a Skull Treat Tray for Dolls!

    If your dolls love to entertain as much as our own during the holidays, then they may be in need of a new 'spooky' treat tray . . . 

       Bone themed dishes are very popular now, the one I made this year has plenty of room for candies, donuts, chocolates and pretzels. But you can fill your own tray like this one with any food you think will please your dolls. 

       I've also included a bone chilling song and dance below for added ambiance during the craft project. Have fun!

Supply List: 

• recycled cereal box cardboard
• graph paper
• black magic marker
• white school glue
• Styrofoam beads
• Sculpey clay (white)
• Hot glue and hot glue gun (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. 

   Tray and candy in progress.

   First, you will need to draw a skull with crossbones to make the bottom of the tray. You can copy the one seen on this post if you like, or draw your own version.
2. Cut out the finished drawing, choose the half of it you prefer and once you fold the image in half. 
3. Now trace around the better half of your drawing on top of a heavy piece of cardboard that is folded in half. Make sure the drawings folded edge lines up with the cardboard's folded edge. Trace around the template.
4. Cut out the cardboard bottom. It should be a symmetrical image once you are done. 
5. Now reposition the template on top of the cardboard cut-out and draw the holes where the eyes and nose are on the skull face. These 'holes' will be where the darker chocolate treats are glued and painted on within your skull tray.
6. Cut a narrow long piece of cardboard to attach with tape and glue around the outside of the skull forming a the shallow walls of the tray. Let dry.
7. Now decoupage all of the surfaces of your Halloween skull serving tray with white or black paper. I chose white so that any color painted on would be brilliant. 
8. Fill in the skull with all sorts of candy, cookie, or sweet treat shapes. Glue all of these in place permanently in order to make the treat tray a durable lasting prop.
9. Paint the elements as you like, but, make sure to paint the eyes and nose with the darkest coloration so that the skull will be self-evident when the tray is on display.
10. Seal with Mod Podge.

Left, draw a skull and crossbones. Give it a symmetrical design by folding the drawing in half
and recutting it so that both sides are the same. Center, trace around the paper template on top 
of cardboard to make the bottom of the tray. Right, reposition the paper template over the 
bottom of the tray and mark where the eye sockets and nose hole will be positioned within
the spooky skull tray.

Left, pool glue around the inside walls of the tray and let it all dry to make the construction 
durable for play. Center, I highlighted the openings in my design with a permanent black 
ink marker to remind me where the chocolate candies should be painted in place. Right,
Now the tray is ready for three dimensional candies, cookies and yogurt covered pretzels
to be glued in place.

• Learn how to shape cute lolly-pops for Halloween - or Dolloween if your prefer!
• Here are some printable candy bars for your trick-or-treaters too...

Walt Disney's first "Silly Skeleton Dance" video

All Kinds of Puppets

       Types of Puppets – Puppetry by its nature is a flexible and inventive medium, and many puppet companies work with combinations of puppet forms, and incorporate real objects into their performances. They might, for example, incorporate “performing objects” such as torn paper for snow, or a sign board with words as narrative devices within a production. The following are, alphabetically, the basic and conventional forms of puppet:

Black light puppet – A form of puppetry where the puppets are operated on a stage lit only with ultraviolet lighting, which both hides the puppeteer and accentuates the colours of the puppet. The puppeteers perform dressed in black against a black background, with the background and costume normally made of black velvet. The puppeteers manipulate the puppets under the light, while they position themselves unseen against the black unlit background. Controlling what the audience sees is a major responsibility of any puppeteer, and blacklight lighting provides a new way of accomplishing this. Puppets of all sizes and types are able to be used, and glow in a powerful and magical way. The original concept of this form of puppetry can be traced to Bunraku puppetry.

• Brilliant and Moving Puppet Theatre
• Black Light Theatre of Jiri Srnec

Bunraku puppet – Bunraku puppets are a tyrepe of wood-carved puppet originally made to stand out through torch illumination. Developed in Japan over a thousand years ago and formalised and combined with shamisen music at the end of the 16th century, the puppeteers dress to remain neutral against a black background, although their presence as kind of ‘shadow’ figures adds a mysterious power to the puppet. Bunraku traditionally uses three puppeteers to operate a puppet that is 2/3 life size.

• Japanese Bunraku puppets

Carnival or body puppet – usually designed to be part of a large spectacle. These are often used in parades (such as the May day parade in Minneapolis, USA) and demonstrations, and are at least the size of a human and often much larger. One or more performers are required to move the body and limbs. In parades, the appearance and personality of the person inside is not relevant to the spectator. These puppets are particularly associated with large scale entertainment, such as the nightly parades at various Disney complexes around the world. Similar puppets were designed by Julie Taymor for The Lion King.

• Nottingham Light Night 2010
• Giant Puppet Street Parade, Siem Reap, Cambodia 2012
• Little Girl Dancing – Sea Odyssey Liverpool 2012
• Rudolf Nureyev at Muppet Show
• 4 Legged Stilt Costumes
• Walking With Dinosaurs visits Urban Rush
• 2008 Tony Awards Lion King Circle of Life

Finger puppet - An extremely simple puppet variant which fits onto a single finger. Finger puppets normally have no moving parts, and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder shape to cover the finger. This form of puppet has limited application, and is used mainly in pre-schools or kindergartens for storytelling with young children.

Sock Puppet – A puppet formed from a sock and operated by inserting ones hand inside the sock. One then moves his hand up and down to give the impression of speaking. Sometimes eyes and other factors are added to the sock in order to make the puppet more realistic. Sock Puppets are also popular in many puppet performances, as they are simple to make and easy to use. They are mostly used in satirical or childish works, as they are not very professional.

Hand or glove puppet – These are puppets controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet. Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of hand puppets. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer’s hand in just the puppet’s head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet’s body then hangs over the entire arm. Other parts of the puppet (mainly arms, but special variants exist with eyelids which can be manipulated; the mouth may also open and close) are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock.

• Make a Winter Glove Puppet
• Punch & Judy May Fair – “clowning around”
• Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey

Human-arm puppet – Also called a “two-man puppet” or a “Live-hand puppet”; it is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers. One puppeteer places a hand inside the puppet’s head and operates its head and mouth, while the other puppeteer wears gloves and special sleeves attached to the puppet in order to become the puppet’s arms, so that the puppet can perform arbitrary hand gestures. This is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry.

• Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors”

Mechanical Extensions for Body Puppet Anatomy:

• Centaur Costume for Chronicles of Narnia

Light Curtain puppet presentations use specifically focused light to highlight small areas of a performance, allowing the puppet to be seen while the manipulators remain invisible. The puppets stand on a stage divided into an unlit background and a well-lit foreground, meeting to form a “curtain” of light. The puppeteer dresses in black and remains hidden in the unlit background of the stage while the puppet is held across the light curtain in the lit foreground of the stage. “Light curtain puppet” is an umbrella term, and any puppet which is extended into a well-lit area where its handler remains separated from the puppet by a division of light may be called a light curtain puppet.

• Funky Fingers
• Silhouettes – America’s Got Talent

Marionette or “string puppet” – These puppets are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. The control bar can be either a horizontal or vertical one. Basic strings for operation are usually attached to the head, back, hands (to control the arms) and just above the knee (to control the legs). This form of puppetry is complex and sophisticated to operate, requiring greater manipulative control than a finger, glove or rod puppet. The puppet play performed by the Von Trapp children with Maria in The Sound of Music is a marionette show.

• Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• Amsterdams Marionetten Theater – ‘De Toverfluit’ and still shots
• Puppets in Praque Marionette Carving Workshop
• A Book of Marionettes by Helen Haiman Joseph

Marotte - A simplified rod puppet that is just a head and/or body on a stick. In a marotte à main prenante, the puppeteer’s other arm emerges from the body (which is just a cloth drape) to act as the puppet’s arm. Some marottes have a small string running through the stick attached to a handle at the bottom. When the handle is squeezed, the mouth opens.

Pull String Puppet – a puppet consisting of a cloth body where in the puppeteer puts his/her arm into a slot in the back and pulls rings on strings that do certain tasks such as waving or moving the mouth.

• Mr. Punch
• Punch and Judy: free paper theater for student's journals
• Three-Dimensionaland Fully Assembled Paper Muppets

Push puppet – A push puppet consists of a segmented character on a base which is kept under tension until the button on the bottom is pressed. The puppet wiggles, slumps and then collapses, and is usually used as a novelty toy.

• Jungle push puppets

Push-in or Paper puppet, or Toy Theatre – A puppet cut out of paper and stuck onto card. It is fixed at its base to a stick and operated by pushing it in from the side of the puppet theatre. Sheets were produced for puppets and scenery from the 19th century for children’s use.

Rod Puppet – A puppet constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A large glove covers the rod and is attached to the neck of the puppet. A rod puppet is controlled by the puppeteer moving the metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet and by turning the central rod secured to the head.

• What are Hand and Rod Puppets?

Shadow puppet – A cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Shadow puppets can form solid silhouettes or be decorated with various amounts of cut-out details. Colour can be introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide a different dimension and different effects can be achieved by moving the puppet (or light source) out of focus. Javanese shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit) are the classic example of this.

• Hand shadow puppets
• Round – Hand Shadows Video by el Mago Serpico
• Free Resources Online

Supermarionation – A method invented by Gerry Anderson which assisted in his television series Thunderbirds in electronically moving the mouths of marionettes to allow for lip-synchronised speech. The marionettes were still controlled by human manipulators with strings.

Ticklebug – A ticklebug is a type of hand puppet created from a human hand to have four legs, where the puppet features are drawn on the hand itself. The middle finger is lifted as a head, and the thumb and forefinger serve as a first set of two legs on one side, while the ring finger and little finger serve as a second set of two legs on the opposite side.

• Amazing Hand Art

Table Top Puppets – A puppet usually operated by rod or direct contact from behind, on a surface similar to a table top (hence the name). Shares many characteristics with Bunraku.

• Raggedy Ann by  Alissa Hunnicutt
• Uninvited by Allissa Hunnicutt
• Pinokenstein – You Made Me

Ventriloquist dummy – A puppet operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus the audience’s attention from the performer’s activities and heighten the illusions. They are called dummies because they do not speak on their own. The ventriloquist dummy is controlled by the one hand of the ventriloquist. Such acts aren’t always performed with a traditional dummy, occasionally using other forms of puppetry.

• ABC Collectors – Ventriloquist Dummies
• Teen Ventriloquist, Megan

Water Puppet – a Vietnamese puppet form, the “Múa rối nước”. Múa rối nước literally means “puppets that dance on water”, an ancient tradition that dates back to the tenth century. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers to control them. The appearance is of the puppets moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this puppet form.

• Vietnamese Water Puppet Show
• Water Puppet Show Hanoi, Vietnam
• A Traditional Water Puppet Show in Vietnam

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Brook Fishing

Old print of gentlemen "brook fishing" for native trout.

        If tired businessmen could turn back the clock the banks of all the little brooks of the world would be crowded with small boys and their dogs. Of all the days of our youth, the most delightful were those we spent with a dog, a fishhook, and a can of worms along the brook that skirted the farm. 

       Weekdays were taken up with school and chores, but Saturday was our own and from early spring until late fall we haunted its banks. There was a can of worms under the back porch, the by-product of a job of spading we had done in the kitchen garden. 

       Calling the dog, we climbed the gate to the pasture and walked down the cow path across the fields to the brook. It was quiet and restful there; dragonflies buzzed about the pools and a rare leaf floated down to the water from the overhanging trees. At a bend a weeping willow leaned far out over the water. Here a deep pool had been washed out and here the biggest shiners and sunfish lay. While the dog investigated the latest messages in the skunk and groundhog holes along the bank, we cut a willow pole, tied on the line, using a ketchup bottle cork for a bobber. 

       All the long afternoon, as the shadows lengthened across the pole, we sat and watched the bobber, hoping for the big one that we never caught. Chore time came too soon and we reluctantly crossed the meadow again, carrying a half-dozen small fry strung on a piece of packing string. That evening an indulgent mother served them, crisp and brown. We ate them, tails, fins and bones

• Return to The Good Old Days

The Warriors

An unidentified Union Soldier.

        When I was a boy there were many Civil War veterans scattered around the community. They formed a tight little group which the stay-at-homes referred to, on the sly, as the Liars Club. I thought of them as warriors and heroes. They got special consideration at family reunions and picnics, and on the Fourth of July and,Memorial Day they put on their old campaign caps and paraded behind the band. 

       They were great storytellers and when they got together and began to brag about their exploits a boy would leave his favorite game to sit and listen. 

       My favorite was old Gus Scherr. Gus was not much force as a farmer, but he was an unsung rural Homer when it came to spinning yarns about The War. His stories got longer and taller with time. He liked boys and there was always a gang following him around, begging him to tell them a story. One of them who was getting along in his history book once pointed out to him that he couldn't have been at the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Fredericksburg, since they were both fought on the same day. 

       Gus was not disturbed by this, claiming that history books have a way of being wrong about dates. Gus had other talents. He was the best fisherman in the country, and if he especially liked you he would invite you along to his favorite pool. He was a great squirrel hunter too, and could take off warts by rubbing them with his thumb and reciting some mysterious words. 

       The middle finger on his right hand was missing, lost, Gus said, at the Battle of Gettysburg. "I was layin' there behind a rail fence," he said, "and I see this Johnny Reb sneakin' up on me, ready to shoot. I drawed a bead on him and we both fired at the same time. I hit him right between the eyes. His bullet took off this finger, clean as a whistle.' "" 

       He lived comfortably on his pension and what he took off his little farm. Since he never allowed his work to interfere with his hunting or fishing, his corn patch was not the most productive. Most of his year- round food came from his kitchen garden, which his wife tended. 

       To Gus the Civil War was not only the greatest war in all history, but the greatest event of all time. It never really ended for him, just tapered off into a sort of passive cold war. Once when he was picking potatoes the smaller ones kept falling through his hand at the missing finger. It had been fifty years since Gettysburg, but Gus straightened up, spat a stream of tobacco juice into the wind, and shouted, "Consarn that Rebel!" 

       The small boys who followed in his wake and idolized him may not have learned sound history from him, but they'll tell you today that any boy who hasn't had an old soldier to tell him stories has missed one of the great experiences of life.

• Return to The Good Old Days

Queen Kitten's Birthday Party

It is My Party and I'll cry if I want too!
and the whole song here.

The Queen Kitten

 by Eulalie Osgood Grover

   I am the Queen of all the Kittens.

   I am the Queen! the Queen!

   Come, all you kittens and cats.

   Hear what I have to say.

   To-marrow I give a grand party.

   The party will be in my palace.

   You are all invited from the biggest to the littlest, from the oldest to the youngest, from the blackest to the whitest. 

   So wash your paws and shine your fur.

   Forget your naughty tricks and do not one of you dare be late to your Queen's party.

   To-morrow at one o'clock.

       Does your Queen kitten have a soft bed? Does she have a crown for her head? Will you bake her a cake for her party?

       The supplies you will need to make a cat's birthday cake include: a tiny plastic fish bead, tuna pink acrylic paint, masking tape, a toilet tissue square, white school glue, Mod Podge and a bottle cap of any size.

Left, display your birthday cat's tuna cake on a fancy dish to emphasize it's elegance. Right,
Our cat's kitten smells something wonderful and can't resist taking a peek...

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clean the recycled cap well; let it dry.
2. Cover the cap with masking tape.
3. Pool the white glue inside of the cap.
4. Soak the one or two squares of soft tissue (Kleenex or toilet paper) in white glue to fill up the interior of the cap.
5. Push the fish bead down into the tissue on the top of the cat cake. Let everything dry.
6. Add more glue to hold the bead securely if needed. Let dry.
7. Now paint the faux tuna cake with acrylics as you wish.
8. Finish the last coat with Mod Podge.

Ideas for your pretend cat's cake from YouTube:

• See how to make more tuna cakes for a cat birthday party
• Oreo has tiny tuna cakes for his birthday . . . 
• Happy cats eat a homemade birthday cake!
• A quick kitty cake for your pet's birthday treat.

       Read below about the cat-tastrophy of a Cat Birthday party!

A CAT'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. 

Mrs. Gertrude Manly Jones. 

A KITTY named Pollie — just over the way — 

Gave a party last week on her second birthday.

It was — so I've heard — quite a stylish affair, 

For the cat elite of the village was there. 

For a week the party was meowed about, 

After the neat invitations were out; 

"What shall I wear?" was a question oft asked, 

And for some little time the kitties harassed; 

At last they decided, without a demur, 

That because of cool weather, they'd all dress in fur. 

In the meanwhile, Pollie was burdened with care 

To get up a fine supper, and nice bill of fare. 

There were grasshopper croquets and truffles to make; 

A lot of fat lizards to stuff and to bake; 

There were mice, to be fricasseed, parboiled and stewed, 

And strong catnip bouillon, and punch to be brewed — 

Oh, my ! Was there ever before a gray cat 

Who had such a weight on her shoulders as that? 

But at last the eventful evening came 'round, 

And everything was quite in readiness found. 

In the old kitchen garden the table was set, 

And a funnier table you never saw yet; 

The tea cups were egg shells ; and turnip green plates 

Were loaded with savory messes and baits; 

A large rutabaga was hollowed out clean, 

And made quite an excellent bouillon tureen; 

The table was trimmed up with beet leaves and mint, 

And festoons of parsely were used without stint. 

As the clock struck midnight, the guests all poured in. 

And you never did hear such a horrible din! 

 The old cornstalk fiddles set up a full blast, 

And partners for quadrilles were taken up fast. 

How the feet and the tails did fly in the air! 

How the sparks glinted off from the soft glossy hair! 

Some cats promenaded; others, played the coquette, 

While a pair on the fence top struck up a duet; 

The ball had now reached its dizziest height, 

When from a near cottage, there flashed a bright light; 

A window was hastily raised with a bang, 

And a pistol-shot out through the old garden rang. 

I tell you the sound of that ringing report 

Put an end to the dancing, the singing and sport. 

The beaux — why, they went just tearing off home, 

And left the young kitties to come on alone.

Kittie Pollie was very much chagrined about 

The way her grand entertainment turned out, 

And although she certainly was not to blame, 

She declares she will never give parties again.

DIY a Cool Pool for Summer Fun!

        This cool little pool is constructed with: blue painter's tape, blue photo paper of water, three large plastic rings, scrap cardboard, Mode Podge, masking tape and white school glue. Your doll's pets may pretend to swim in it whenever they wish without any fear of getting wet. Think of all the mess you'll never need clean up while the puppy softies pounce about causing all kinds of mischief!

Left, one of our doll's many pet poodles enjoys their cool pool. Right, see the three rings covered in
blue painters tape; it makes the pool look like inflated plastic.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cover the three plastic rings with masking tape, smoothing down edges and creases as you go.
2. Using white school glue, squeeze out enough from the bottle to stick the bottom sides together once all three rings are stacked on top of each other. Let dry.
3. Cut out a bottom from cardboard and glue the rings on top of it.
4. Cut out water photo paper and paste it into the interior of the pool so that it will look as though it is filled with water.
5. Now mask the remaining areas not yet blue with painter's tape.
6. Brush on Mod Podge to seal the entire surface area one last time.

Left, the rings are both taped and glued together using masking tape. Center, a bottom cut from 
cardboard is taped to the bottom of the three rings. Right, blue water printed paper is glued 
inside of the pool and then Mod Podge is brushed on last to seal the finish.

 See Additional Pool Posts:

• A decoupaged pool craft using seaside stickers and a recycled clear, plastic container
• Barbie's trendy pool from my childhood collections...

How to make doll-sized snow cones

Doll snow cones for a fair, playground,
swimming pool or beach.

       Our dolls love to pretend to eat snow cones and these are easy enough for any child to make with just a little guidance. I have made these examples for the 4th of July parade in Dollville. But I'm sure many young folks would like them just as well for the local beach or playground.

Supply List:

• decorative sheet of paper
• template or small jar to trace a circle
• Small sized Styrofoam balls
• transparent glitter
• tacky craft gluee
• acrylic paint colors (your choice of flavors)
• Mod Podge

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Draw a small circle on the back of decorative paper and cut it out.
2. Cut this circle in half exactly. Do this by folding it once in half, unfolding the circle and then cutting along the crease line in the paper. Two halves will make two cone sleeves.
3. Now gently turn the half circle in on itself to shape a "cone" and tape this in place on the inside of the cone where the tape cannot be seen.
4. Trim the top edge of the paper cone so that it is even all the way around the rim.
5. Using tacky glue, paste a Styrofoam ball inside of the cone. Let dry.
6. Paint the foam balls in color you like. Different colors represent different flavors usually: yellow for lemon, red for cherry, blue for blueberry and orange for orange flavoring.
7. After the acrylic painted areas have dried squeeze on a thin layer of glue and sprinkle it with transparent glitter. This will give the snow cone a ''frozen'' appearance. 
8. Brush on a layer of Mod Podge on every surface of the doll-size cones to seal for play.

See More Sweet Treats for Summer Months:

• Assemble Italian Spumone Sodas
• Craft Cotton Candy for A Doll

Build a custom fireplace surround for Barbie's dollhouse

I will purchase a battery operated
 votive for the firebox later.

       This elegant fireplace has a built in shelf where dolls can position a T. V. or display just above the firebox. The firebox has two columns flanking both the left and right as well as a mosaic, base for the ''faux gas logs'' to stand upon. Most of our doll fireplaces have been wood burners, however, this particular one is based upon a cleaner, gas version designed for a semi-formal living room. Students can build this version using a tall narrow box and printed papers.

Supply List:

• faux wood paper
• decorative paper for the deep shelf
• white school glue
• masking tape
• decorative pebbles 
• a tall cardboard box, approximately 12 -14 inches in height and 5 inches wide and 3 - 4 inches deep
  
• extra cardboard
• 2 cardboard tubes
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Approximately locate the large shelf halfway inside of the vertical standing box. The shelf should project beyond the opening of the box by one inch.
2. The cardboard tubes will support the shelf and mark the ending of the extended cardboard base for this fireplace design.
3. Glue these elements in place and then wrap a wider length of cardboard around the edge of the shelf to make it look as though it has volume.
4. Cover all of the surfaces with masking tape prior to decoupaging these.
5. Glue in white typing paper inside the firebox to give it a clean finish.
   
6. Layer a classic striped paper inside the shelf above the firebox. 
7. Cover the remaining fireplace with faux wood paper.
8. Pool the glue at it's base and fill it in with decorative mosiac pebbles. Let these dry overnight.
9. Decorate the shelf as you wish or craft a television set to position over the firebox. Here is a cardboard television set and here is one made from a foam craft sheet.
   

See the custom built fireplace for Barbie and her friends from different angles.

Make Fun, Easy Beach Balls!

Our Mesha doll waiting to swim.

       I made two decorative versions of this beach or pool craft. One ball is red with white polka-dots and the other with large color blocking in: yellow, green, pink and lavender colors. The polka-dots where cut from typing paper and glued to the surface after the ball was layered in red tissue. The color blocking on the second beach ball was made by marking the masking tape surface in advance with a pencil and then filling in the four areas with different colors of tissue.

        To make a beach ball for a doll in any size or in any color you will need the following supplies: masking tape, colorful tissue paper, a Stryrofoam ball, white school glue and Mod Podge. You can purchase water resistant Mod Podge if you believe that this pretend beach ball will come in contact with water during playtime. I used ordinary Mod Podge because our 18'' doll pool is a dry playset.
       Cover the surface of the Styrofoam ball entirely with a layer or two of masking tape. Do so gently but with some small pressure of your fingertips. If you press too firmly, you could end up denting the surface unnecessarily. Judiciously squeeze small amounts of white school glue directly on top of the layered masking tape and press colorful tissue paper on top of the glue. Cover the entire surface one section at a time, allowing areas to dry entirely before covering other parts of the foam ball. 
       Drying times between each application are not lengthy, but you do need to be patient and methodical during the process. After the ball is covered with tissue and glue, brush on several layers of Mod Podge to seal it's outer surface completely before play. The Mod Podge will harden and take on a vinyl appearance after it dries.

 

Left, Styrafoam balls. Right, decorated to look like beach balls.

•  See more Barbie size pool toys here.

Craft a Cart for Bowling Balls

       Colorful doll sized bowling balls, pins and a cart are needed for the doll's bowling games. I used a box measuring 9''x 2'' x5'' to make the cart. 1 1/2 inch wooden blocks were glued to the bottom of the cart for legs. Glue inside just one shelf of equal size to divide the box into a cart big enough to store bowling balls.

Left, I use these balls from a dismantled tabletop pool table for 18'' bowling balls. I suppose that
the table was lost or damaged because I found the balls along in a bag for sale at our local flee
market. They are the perfect weight and size for our bowling playset. Right, see how the
balls are stacked in the cart.

What the cart looked like before I papered it. See it has wooden blocks for feet.

The bowling ball cart from three angles, finished with pastel color in the interior shelves and a hand
drawn, wooden exterior.

Both this large set of bowling pins measuring 4 inches tall
and the smaller set with 2 1/4 inch pins fit into our bowling
alley playset. This set may be used by both 14-18 inch dolls
and the standard sized 12 fashion dolls like Barbie.

Craft Fashionable Doll Flip-Flops!

       The key to understanding just 'how' a doll's shoe is made is to think about how it made from the inside out. You build a shoe by assembling it's inner parts first, then working your way to the outside parts last.

       Flip-flops are much simpler shoes to put together compared to boots or high heels. In America, it can get very hot during the months of June, July, August and September. So, these are the kind of shoes many folks wear during those months if they are not at work. Children love flip-flops so it only stands to reason that they would want to dress their dolls the same way.

       With flip-flops, you don't wear socks! These shoes slip quickly on the feet to guard them from burns and cuts but they can just as easily slip off for those impulsive dips into a swimming pool, river, lake etc... Most of these kinds of shoes are inexpensive and are characteristically playfully decorative for girls or women. Little boys and men traditionally wear more sporty versions of flip-flops.

The finished flip-flops shown above are made from paper.
Each pair has a different theme: red paisleys, beach 
combing flip-flops and a cool spring blue floral
theme for our third example. Each of these 
flip-flops goes with a different doll's outfit.

Supply List:

• decorative scrapbook papers
• foam sheets for souls of flip flops
• trims: buttons, ribbon, sea shells
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• tacky craft glue
• doll - to measure her feet
• light weight cardboard
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Trace around your either your doll's foot or shoe to make a pattern for the interior of the doll's flip-flop first. Cut this tracing from light weight cardboard.
2. Glue these cardboard patterns to the backside of decorative paper. Cut this paper a little larger than the cardboard patterns so that you can clip around the edges and then paste them around the edges of the cardboard templates. (see photos)
3. Next, cut a wide band (from cardboard) to hold the flip-flop onto the doll's feet. Check to see that the band will work for the shoe by wrapping it around the top of her foot. There needs to be enough length to glue to the underside of the cardboard inner shoe. 
4. Cover this band with paper and white glue.
5. Attach the band using both tacky glue and masking tape to hold it in place. 
6. Now trace around the the flip-flops to mark the craft foam sheet with a pencil. 
7. Cut out the foam soles and hot glue these onto the bottom of the shoes.
8. Cut long, narrow strips of foam to hot glue along the edges of the the flip-flops. This will cover up uneven surfaces and make the flip-flops look clean and professionally made.
9. Hot glue trims to the tops of the flip-flops to give them unique fashionable looks. I attached blue buttons and ribbon to the floral blue pair, black bows to the red paisley pair and tiny sea shells to the beach themed pair of shoes.

Left cardboard cut-outs drawn from our doll's favorite slippers. Center, see the paper is a little larger
 than the cut-outs so that I can wrap it around the edges using white school glue. Right, the inside of 
our doll's paisley flip flops are covered.

Left, I check to make sure the cardboard band fits my dolls foot. Center, cover the bands with paper.
Right, now the band is attached to the underside of the covered cardboard flip-flop template.

Left, see the soles of the flip-flops are cut from a black craft foam sheet. I used white craft foam
for the other two pairs seen on the right. 

See the same kind of pattern as a house slipper here, only these are covered with fur...

The Fairy School

The Fairy School by Marjorie Barrows

At goldenrod and aster time
The fairies near our pool
Put on some freshly laundered wings
And flutter off to school.

They sit at little toadstool desks

And do their fairy sums,

And learn to color autumn leaves

Before the frost king comes.

And then they study very hard

So they can spin cocoons

And sing the flowers all to sleep

With little bedtime tunes.

They'd fluttered home for tea today

When I went past the pool,

But I almost saw the fairy dunce

Staying after school!